


Touch

by JMount74



Series: Fluffember 2020 [18]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 08:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27640064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74
Summary: All it takes is two touches.
Series: Fluffember 2020 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997284
Comments: 10
Kudos: 18





	Touch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheRebelFlower](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRebelFlower/gifts).



Touch was a difficult subject. ‘Touchy subject?’ Gordon would have joked. Everyone would have rolled their eyes at such an awful pun but there was truth in the joke.

She’d never had the problem before. Well, she had, but not for years.

Growing up, she’d been assured of love from her family, and that love had been shown in many ways – good food, security, pleasurable experiences. But the way she remembered most was touch.

The feel of her mama’s hand on her arm, around her shoulders, brushing her hair.  
The feel of her papa as he hoisted her up onto his shoulders and ran around the plantation, or gently cupped her hand around a delicate flower while he taught her his horticultural methods. The gentle touch correcting her stance as they meditated and practiced together.  
The feel of…no, no! 

Then her mama had died, and everything changed in an instant of fury. She remembered the touch of hatred, the slap, the pain as they ran, the thorns and the stones and the insect bites. The being held tightly by her papa as they hid.

There were a few years when it seemed their whole life revolved around this pattern of behaviour. They would curl up together at night and Papa would recount stories of how much her mama loved her. He took the opportunities and taught her how to defend herself.

Then one day they stopped running. For a white man had come, seeking them out and finding them in London. He came with another white man who had a daughter too – she was not with them, but he talked about her – and they not only stopped running, they moved to an island in the middle of nowhere.

The white man made her nervous but strangely secure. He had taken time to get down to her level and introduce himself. Jeff Tracy was a tall man, far taller than her papa, but her papa trusted him and so she made an effort to be polite. Mr Tracy explained that this was her home, she would have her own room and she was free to come and go as she pleased.

She remembered bobbing a little curtsy at that. She was just eleven at the time.

Her introduction to Mr Tracy’s boys was somewhat noisier and more chaotic.

Mr Tracy had given her papa and her a suite of rooms – an en-suite bedroom each and a living room – but they seldom used the living room. With just four people living on the island in a huge house, one of which seldom came out of their ‘lab’, there had been no real need. 

They had been there for almost two months when Mr Tracy announced that tomorrow his boys would start coming home for summer break. There were five boys in total, that she knew from the pictures dotted about, but so far she’d only heard them over the vidcomm. Mr Tracy had said that they would be loud, and if Tanusha found them too much she was not to feel guilty telling them to be quiet. It would do them good, their father said.

The first ones home were the youngest. Alan was eight and Gordon eleven, and their first meeting was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Alan openly stared at her, mouth open, while she tried to hide behind her papa. That was impossible because her papa was helping Mr Tracy unload the plane that had brought them. Gordon took one look, sniffed and proceeded to ignore her. She wasn’t sure which reaction was worse. 

Finally the bags were unloaded, and the plane had gone. Mr Tracy and his sons were enveloped in a group hug – and Alan was still staring at her. She began to wonder if there was something wrong with herself. That thought was immediately followed by: what was wrong with him?

Mr Tracy untangled himself successfully from Gordon, not so successfully from Alan, who clung to his side. ‘Boys, let me introduce you to Tanusha Kyrano and her father, Mr Kyrano. They live here too, and you are to be respectful of them both, ok?’ Both boys nodded. ‘Kyrano is going to be cooking for you all and caring for the gardens for a bit, but he is my head of security, so his presence here later will be hit and miss. His daughter Tanusha’ – here Mr Tracy beckoned her forward and she moved unwillingly after a discrete nudge from her papa – ‘she will be here for a while and you need to be respectful of her. If she tells you to stop then you must stop, and Gordon, you must not make a nuisance of yourself.’

Gordon looked appraisingly at her, as if he was calculating just how much he would get away with. Alan was still staring, wide-eyed and mouth open. A little grin appeared on Gordon’s face and at once Tanusha was on her guard. But Gordon simply flicked his younger brother’s ear, laughed and ran off, an outraged Alan on his heels yelling. Jeff rolled his eyes. At least his two youngest and most troublesome had been introduced to Tan, as he called her with her permission. She was such a quiet and withdrawn little thing, and he hoped introducing the boys would at best bring her out of her shell, at worse she would hide in her rooms or the library. One thing he had made clear was that she was entitled to stand up for herself – not that he thought there would be a problem, but rather because he knew that they could get carried away.

Two days later and Tanusha was a very worn and exasperated girl. That Gordon never shut up! And he sprouted such rubbish! Of course, she hadn’t called him out on it – she wasn’t quite that comfortable with them yet – but having them there had been interesting and, if she was honest, she was enjoying the company.

There was no-one down for breakfast on the third morning, which was unusual. If Alan had stared at her for ages when they were introduced, she had repaid the ‘compliment’ over dinner that evening and every meal since. She simply could not understand how they could eat so much! Where did it go? More than once Mr Tracy had rapped Gordon’s knuckles for reaching over to grab more food before finishing what was already on their plates. Her papa was inordinately pleased to see his cooking devoured like that. When she had mentioned it to him papa had smiled and simply said that they were growing boys. So no-one at breakfast was a big deal.

It was soon cleared up when she heard the approach of another airplane. Tanusha watched from the lounge as it landed and taxied to a stop. Mr Tracy was there with his two boys, and she watched as three larger boys exited. Two were quite tall and the third, while not quite as tall, was quite broad. Her mind supplied ‘football player’ as she recalled from one of the pictures. Papa was heading their way, so Tanusha thought she should probably also go. Better to be introduced now then to make Mr Tracy seek her out.

By the time she had made it down to the landing strip the whole family was engaged in a group hug. They were very tactile, this family, and Tanusha didn’t think she’d ever seen males hug so much. They broke apart at her approach, and Mr Tracy introduced her exactly as he had done for the youngest two.

The three also stared at her, but there was warmth in their eyes and smiles about their faces. She instantly relaxed, and was startled to be confronted with three pairs of eyes of the most astonishing colours – deep, sapphire blue, almost glowing turquoise green and rich honey-chocolate brown. Tan blinked. The eldest (blue) boy’s grin widened as she realised she was staring just like Alan had been, and she flushed. They all murmured a greeting.

This was the first time a boy touched her.

Scott moved first, holding out his hand for a handshake. She tentatively took his hand, and they shared a very solemn moment. The grin stayed on the entire time, and she matched it with a small smile of her own. John and Virgil followed their brother’s lead. 

And then everyone was moving, carrying bags and chatting loudly, Alan clinging to Scott like a limpet and Gordon dancing around his older brothers. Mr Tracy had explained that the two youngest only saw the three oldest during the longer breaks, and that Scott and John would be off to university next semester, so this break was going to be noisy! 

The next few days passed in a whirl. If Tanusha had thought the youngest two were noisy, it was nothing compared to how they all were when together. They did everything together, and the oldest always made sure she was invited. She tagged along on hikes exploring the island – something she had not thought to do yet, she was still exploring the house – they went swimming in the ocean and the pool, they went rock climbing and caving. And Tanusha felt herself relaxing in a way she had not done for years. They treated her as if she had always been there (even if she still caught Alan staring sometimes).

It was a week and a half after they arrived that The Incident happened.

The morning had been spent in and around the pool, a favoured place of Gordon. Tin-Tin, as the boys – Gordon and Alan – had taken to calling her, had had enough horseplay for now and was reading on the lounger, John similarly engaged on her right and Virgil on his right. Scott was indoors somewhere with Mr Tracy.

Gordon was a little bored. They had done everything, and they hadn’t been home for two weeks yet! His mind whirled as he planned and plotted and schemed. Virgil had noticed the look and moved farther away from the pool, but John and Tin-Tin were engrossed in their books and had ignored his coughing to get John’s attention. Alan could see what was coming and was intrigued to see how the girl (a girl! On his island!) would react. He could see through the glass that Scott’s Scooter sense had been set off because he turned around suddenly to watch, and so did their father.

Gordon picked up speed a little as he swam to the side, and with a swift kick and turn, sent a wave of water over the two unsuspecting victims, Both shot up in shock, spluttering in indignation at the rude awakening. Gordon was laughing at them, and so was Alan, and Virgil had a huge grin plastered over his face.

John, well used to Gordon’s idea of funny, simply stormed off, muttering under his breath something about the only good squid was a dead squid, and everyone’s attention was on Tanusha. No one knew how she would react, this was her first time being a victim, although she had already learnt from watching them interact that Gordon was very prone to pranks.

Tan stood there, arms held out at either side, just dripping onto the floor. She wasn’t sure what to do. Her immediate response was to flee into her rooms, but her papa had said never to run away from anything. Face the fear, face the enemy, it had been an oft-repeated instruction to help her through nightmares. (She did understand the irony that they had spent years fleeing from her uncle, but she also understood why.)

Gordon was a little alarmed that Tin-Tin had not reacted. At all. He climbed out of the pool as his father and Scott approached from the other side and suddenly Tanusha was surrounded. Without thinking, she zoned in on Gordon. The little… balling up her fist, she started lightly bouncing on her feet.

Both Scott and Virgil knew exactly what Tin-Tin was preparing for, and they both had a hard time keeping a straight face. If she actually did carry through with this, it would serve their little brother right! Alan stayed well back, still in the pool, watching proceedings play out. Gordon was unsure. She looked like she was shaking, and he moved closer to apologise.

It wasn’t until Tan felt Gordon’s hand on her arm that she broke free and reacted. Reacted by flying her fist straight into Gordon’s eye. He fell backwards onto his bottom, a squawk the only noise made for several heartbeats. Then reality caught up with them all. 

Tanusha was suddenly acutely aware that Mr Tracy was standing directly behind her and she had just punched his son. Shame flooded through her and she turned to flee, instead she found herself colliding with Scott. He held her in a tight brief hug, before spinning her around so she could see what was going on.

Everyone was laughing. Real, side-splitting laughter. Even Mr Tracy was laughing. They were all laughing at Gordon, sat on his bottom, mouth open and staring at her. No-one was angry! She felt instantly relieved, and relaxed back against Scott, shaking from his laughter and the last dregs of adrenaline. His right arm was still over her shoulder, and in that instant Tanusha knew.

She loved this family. And they had seamlessly enveloped her into it. All it had taken was two touches – a fist to the eye and an arm around the shoulder – for her to realise. This is where she was meant to be.


End file.
